Gov. Bill Ritter on Thursday quietly signed a controversial bill expanding the prohibition of sexual-orientation-based discrimination, over the vocal opposition of conservative Christian groups.

Senate Bill 200 bans discrimination based on a person’s religious beliefs or sexual orientation — including transgender people — in places of public accommodation, housing practices, family planning services and 20 other areas. Such prohibitions are already in place with regard to race and gender.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction for Coloradans and civil rights,” said state Sen. Jennifer Veiga, a Denver Democrat who sponsored the bill.

No bill this year has seen the kind of heated pre-signing attacks leveled at SB 200. Focus on the Family launched radio ads and a media campaign urging Ritter to veto the bill.

Opponents say the bill will have serious consequences, such as opening up public restrooms and locker rooms to all genders and transgender people, exposing children and women to harm.

“Henceforth, every woman and little girl will have to fear that a predator, bisexual, cross-dresser or even a homosexual or heterosexual male might walk in and relieve himself in their presence,” Focus on the Family founder James Dobson said Thursday in a statement on the signing.

Bruce DeBoskey, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the opposition’s claims are not realistic. “They’re highly exaggerated, and they’re based on fear,” DeBoskey said.

Using data from the Dartmouth Atlas – a source of information and analytics that organizes Medicare data by a variety of indicators linked to medical resource use – we recently ranked geographic areas based on markers of end-of-life care quality, including deaths in the hospital and number of physicians seen in the last year of life.

Wednesday morning two independent research teams, one based in the Netherlands and the other in California, reported that the deluge from Hurricane Harvey was significantly heavier than it would have been before the era of human-caused global warming.

Denver’s newest skyscraper will be home to one of the city’s most recognizable home-grown business by the end of next year. Chipotle is moving its 450 downtown corporate staff into the 1144 Fifteenth tower by the end of 2018.